14 killed in blast at a gathering of Muslim scholars in Kabul

At least 14 people were killed and 17 others injured in a blast in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, reported TOLO news. Among the dead are seven religious scholars and four security personnel. The blast took place at a gathering of Ulemas in Kabul.

Ulemas or the Muslim scholars had gathered at Polytechnic University in Kabul when the blast took place. The meeting was being held under the traditional tent of the Loya Jirga, also known as the council of elders, said reports.

As per an Al-Jazeera report, the Ulemas had gathered to issue a 'fatwa' against suicide bombings and the ongoing war in the country. Fatwa is a religious decree issued by learned scholars in accordance with the Islamic Law.

Reports quoted Ghafor Aziz, a police district chief, as saying that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near the entrance of a compound in the west of the capital where the Afghan Ulema Council was meeting.

No group has claimed the responsibility of the attack so far.

On May 13, at least six people were killed and close to 20 injured in a suicide attack in the city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Terrorists had stormed a government building and detonated bombs. There were two explosions near the city's directorate of finance, Nangarhar provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP, adding that "a number of attackers" had entered the building.